The Greatest Genius Alchemist Of All Time Wants To Retire - Chapter 30 - Arcadia, the Magical City on Earth
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- Chapter 30 - Arcadia, the Magical City on Earth
Episode 30 –
Translator: Xean
Editor: SevenTails
Right now, Alice and I were on our way to the royal castle. I was surprised to see plenty of books on fairy tales and folklore1Folklore and fairy tales. Both stories, but the first is based on ‘real stories’ while the second is purely ‘fictional stories.’ The problem here is that it’s unknown which it is. in the castle’s basement.
“Say, Alice. Are you sure about it? Besides the ones in your room, I didn’t expect you to show me the ones in the basement as well.”
“This is for all the trouble we’ve given you, Sensei. Also, I have my father’s permission, so it’s okay.”
“All right then.”
Fortunately, no one was hurt back then. That stupid brother of yours… You’ll never know what will happen. However, I will never forgive him for kidnapping Proto. That’s for sure.
“By the way, why are you looking for fairy tale books?”
“Didn’t I tell you? Simply speaking, I need them to solve a part of the labyrinth’s mystery.”
“Ha~a… Mystery?”
“Yes. I’m trying to figure out the nature of the labyrinth, the meaning of alchemy, and the true nature of this world.”
“Eh… Did Sensei awaken to the search for truth? Did you hit your head somewhere in the labyrinth?”
“Ha? You are constantly misunderstanding things. Everything I do boils down to farming. I will definitely accomplish my life-project. That’s why I need to conquer the labyrinth. There is something there that is different from alchemy, or perhaps, it could be the prototype of alchemy.”
“Magic, perhaps?”
“Probably that’s what it is. If we look into folklore, we may be able to get closer to the truth.”
“He~e… I see. That’s why you’re exploring the labyrinth. I’m relieved to hear that Sensei is still the same.”
“My beliefs have never changed. I’ve always been and will always be a farmer, and I’m going to… die as one.”
“… Sensei really is good. I really like that about you. That’s why I fell in love with you in the first place…”
“Ha? What did you say?”
“It’s nothing! Sensei’s an idiot!”
Alice immediately took off after saying that. She was as lively as ever.
At the royal castle, I was in Alice’s room. It was a big room with a large bed. There are also bookshelves and a few desks. All of them must have been expensive, but it was a simple room.
“Let’s see… The fairy tale books can be found at… Found it.”
“Thanks.”
I bring all the books from the top of the bookshelf on the desk where Alice pointed to.
“I’ll borrow your desk.”
“Please, go ahead. I’ll go finish some homework.”
Just as Alice said she was doing homework, I immersed myself in my own world.
Magic. A supernatural phenomenon that reflects the wishes of people onto the real world. Wizards abounded the world and thrived on magic. There were many stories written about them, but I wasn’t quite sure if they were true. All of them seem to have been written for children, and in the end, there was no mention of the magic itself. I can’t blame them since they were meant to entertain children but… I’ll have to see if I can find something in the underground library.
“Alice, I want to go to the underground library.”
“I knew you would say that. All the books here are for children. Maybe what you’re looking for is in the underground library.”
We went down to the library, but Alice left soon afterwards. She left after saying, ‘I’ll be in my room, so let me know when you’re done.’ She knew this was a serious matter and stopped with her teasing. She really knows how to read the mood.
Well, this had nothing to do with Alice. I should find the folklore now. I light a flame on my index finger using alchemy. Then, I rustled through the books and searched.
“… What’s this?
What I found was an ancient-looking book. It was dusty, and the title was illegible. It was also a very thin book.
“… Arcadia, the Magic City?
Yes. The title was ‘Arcadia, the Magic City.’ For now, I decided to read it and here’s how the content of the book went.
This world was full of magic. Every living being used magic. People built cities with magic and everyone thrived on it, but one day, people who let go of magic appeared. Those people used a technology called ‘Science’ to achieve prosperity. Magic and ‘Science.’ Two paths that had conflicting relationships.
One day, a natural disaster occurred. It seemed that a meteorite was going to crash into this world, and in order to stop it, Magic and Science cooperated, but civilization still collapsed despite their efforts. To survive, wizards insisted on escaping to the skies before the meteorite arrived.
Arcadia was the name of the magical city in the sky. It was where the remaining wizards lived happily.
“Hmm…”
I opened my notebook and wrote down the contents. Magic, science… An unfamiliar word. What is science? I’m sure it was a technological system that could compete with magic, but I couldn’t figure out how. At first glance, it’s just fiction, a mere fantasy. Even the book had an introduction saying that it wasn’t real, but I couldn’t help but be curious. Intuitively, I knew that magic had something to do with alchemy.
I searched through all the books on folklore but found not much more information than I had earlier. There was no mention of labyrinths either. The only mention of the labyrinth was that it was a commonplace and a mysterious underground facility. Well, I suppose that’s why it had been a mystery even now.
However, the Third Labyrinth had just been conquered, and we are well on our way to conquering the Sixth Labyrinth.
Perhaps we are at a turning point in history. I’ve changed the nature of alchemy, and the labyrinths were changing the nature of this world. That’s how it might turn out. I may just be guessing, but history had definitely begun to move forward, starting with the capture of the labyrinths.
Agricultural products may also be able to grow bigger… Fufufu…
I then thanked Alice and decided to leave.
“Sensei, please come back anytime. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Thank you for your help today. Thank you.”
Alice, unusually, did not do anything after that. She bowed politely and sent me on my way.
It’s nice to see Alice acting like this once in a while. ‘I hoped she’d always like that…’ I thought as I headed home.
◇
“Elle, can I talk to you for a minute… ?”
“I don’t mind…..”
As I was opening the door to my residence, I bumped into Fii. Lately, I’ve been eating dinner in Fii’s room a lot, so I don’t mind at all, but for some reason, I get a strangely serious vibe from her at that moment.
When we arrived in the living room, Monica was also there. She looked strangely nervous. The three of us sat down, and Fii began to speak.
“Elle, Monica took an exam today and passed. The exam was also a Platinum-rank test for the association; it was quite difficult, but she passed it. So, now, Monica is a Platinum-rank alchemist belonging to the association. At the same time, she’s going to be your second seminar student, is that okay?”
“… Monica is?”
I wasn’t informed of this. She just said that she wanted to go to the Kingdom someday and learn alchemy, but I didn’t realize it would be so sudden…
Maybe Monica had already decided. It was a good thing that she was motivated to learn alchemy after meeting Fii and me. Plus, she had the potential. I’ve always thought that I could teach her. Even in the labyrinth, she would advise as needed.
“… I see. In addition to officially belonging to the Alchemy Association, she’s a Platinum-rank alchemist. Isn’t this the first time for demi-humans?”
“It’s the first in the country. There may be others, but in recent years, Monica might be the only one. She’s only 18 years old on top of it. She’ll get a lot of attention. So, Elle, is that okay with you?”
Monica looked at me, nervous.
I could tell she was serious. She was going to have a hard time being in a different country and among a different race. Even though humans and demi-humans are close, they still live in different civilizations and cultures. There was going to be a lot of harsh criticism. Demi-humans aren’t even 10% of the Kingdom’s population. Even so, Monica went ahead and took the test, passed it and will enroll at the academy… There was no way I was going to refuse her. I wanted to support anyone doing their best.
“All right. I’ll introduce you to Rita. Monica, welcome to the academy. I’ll be responsible for making you a great alchemist. I’m still immature as a teacher, but I’ll look forward to working with you.”
“Thank- Thank you very much! Can I call you… Sensei?”
“Sensei. Yeah, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Yes! Sensei!”
That’s how Monica became my seminar student.